Originally, I had intended to hit up the Mayhem Festival this year, but lack of funds and a job prevented me from going, so I "settled" for Pentagram later that day. After I got off work, I got three of my friends in my van and headed down to Emo's East for the show, hoping to catch the show before it got too packed. When we arrived, there were roughly forty people there total, so we had no problem getting in line and getting our tickets. Merch was surprisingly expensive; for $25, you could get a t-shirts in one of three fabulous designs and a backpatch for $15. Vinyls and CD's...didn't pay attention.

The first act (who's name I forgot) went on around 10:00 and started playing what appeared to be a decent set, but they wound up stagnating around five minutes in, so we went outside and waited them out. The second band, Ancient VVisdom, played until around 11:30. I thought they were really good (they reminded me of a bluesier Alice in Chains in a way), but one of my friends thought they sucked. Eh, can't win them all. Before the show, Hod bassist Trans Am (who plays in AVV as well) and I had a brief chat and I told him I wished him luck on tonight's show, and several times during the band's performance, he shot a few glances/horns my way.

Finally, Pentagram's crew took to setting their shit up and finished around 11:45. Pentagram waited until the exact stroke of midnight to step onstage. By this time, at least 150 - 200 people had filled the area, and from the first notes of Sign of the Wolf, the place exploded. The band ruled live as well as they had on record, the setlist was devoid of filler and Bobby seemed enthusiastic (even if we couldn't understand a goddamn thing he said), even pointing to random women in the audience and doing his bug-eye routine, complete with flickering tongue. As the band went through songs, I recalled hearing (and feeling) pops in the venue and smelling smoke. Several other people noticed as well, and the security guys combed through the crowd (one later told me they thought someone brought a gun in thanks to their lack of security checks) while Pentagram played on oblivious. Towards the end of the night, the group started bidding everyone farewell, throwing whatever they could spare onstage (aside from the standard picks/drumsticks/water bottles, Bobby threw a rather large towel into the audience that was later ripped to shreds by the fans) into the audience. After an amazing encore, the lights went on and I managed to grab a setlist/pick from the bassist, who was enthusiastic to hear I was writing this review...even though I waited like, two weeks to write it.

As soon as I met up with my friends, we finally discovered what was making those noises that night - some fuckhead brought in fireworks and was throwing them around all night, and he decided to help security clear everyone out by throwing them in high density areas and places where people would notice them explode. Unfortunately, security never caught the guy and the audience never beat his ass into a coma. I miss the old Emo's...

Overall, this was a fun night, and I hope I get to see Pentagram again soon.